1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to slat conveyor belts for slat conveyors.
2. Description of Prior Art
In slat conveyors, such as are used especially in the textile industry and also for the transporting of, for example, packages or the like, the conveyor belt possesses a plurality of carrying straps circulating parallel to one another in the conveying direction, on which are fixed closely spaced slats oriented transversely to the conveying direction. Teeth may also be mounted on the lower face of the carrying straps at predetermined intervals in general in the region of each slat, thus providing the action of toothed belts, which are driven by corresponding toothed rollers and ensure an extremely accurate synchronization of the conveyor belt.
For the fixing of the slats to the carrying straps, notch or snap connectors have proved eminently successful consisting of heads permanently fixed to the carrying straps, the slats being engaged onto these heads by means of a notch profile formed on their lower face. These permit very rapid assembly of the conveyor belt, and moreover it is also readily possible to replace individual slats in the case of a defect, by simply pulling the damaged slat off its head from the upper side of the conveyor belt and engaging a new slat.
There are many cases, however, in which such notch connectors can be used not at all or only to a limited extent. This applies especially where, during running, an upwardly directed moment can be exerted upon the slats, giving rise to a risk of the slats coming off their heads. In such cases, the fixing of the slats to the carrying straps is normally provided by means of screw connectors or rivet connectors, which are passed through corresponding bores in the slats and the carrying straps. With such connecting components however, the decisive advantages of the notch connection, in particular in regard to the easy replacement of individual slats are lost, since both the known types of screw connectors and also the rivets that are suitable for the fixing of the slats require access both to the upper side and also to the lower side of the conveyor belt for the replacement of a slat. Since in general, access to the under face of a conveyor belt can normally be obtained only with great difficulty, not least on account of the frequently large width and very flat construction of the slat conveyors under discussion here, the replacement of individual slats in the case of the known screw connectors or rivet connectors always presents a considerable problem.